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Mark Greene explores how men’s wide ranging fears remain hidden behind a facade of false confidence.
We have all heard it said, over and over. That many men do not share their feelings. That these men can be good friends, husbands and lovers but that they remain, on some level, hidden. If this is so, it’s for a damn good reason. Men are taught early in life that hiding their emotions is a matter of practical survival. Men are taught that revealing feelings, especially feelings like grief, loneliness or uncertainty is not safe. It is dangerous. It will cost them. Male emotional withdrawal is the direct result of dominant cultural traditions which value toughness and stoicism over communication and emotional connection.
Millions of men are exploring ways to move beyond old ideas of what it is to be a man. This is a good thing. Because it means men will have more options, both new and old, of how they can choose to live in the world. But millions of others still see no alternative but to keep their emotions hidden. They feel trapped in archaic gender roles that are often brutally enforced by other men, women and sometimes, their own families and spouses. On some level, we are all impacted by these generations old rules of manhood which say: hide your fears or pay the price.
One result of the continuing emotional suppression of men, is an increasing level of anger in our public dialogues (that of both men and women). We see these angry public discourses everywhere, in the media, on Facebook and at the local bar. This is because the expression of anger as a mode of emphasizing one’s point of view is somehow considered socially acceptable while revealing “weaker” emotions is not. But ask anyone who knows. Anger is just fear talking. Fears unspoken and unexplored. Below is a list of some fears that men face. This list is by no means complete. But men’s fears, whatever they may be, must be acknowledged. Because when they are deeply rooted and well hidden, these isolating fears can determine the course of an entire lifetime. Hidden though they may be, they should never be taken lightly.
So what are men afraid of? Here are a few examples. (Please note, I am not suggesting that these fears are exclusive to men but I would suggest that they play out very differently in women’s lives.)
For many men, this central fear that sexual love doesn’t last can lead to a preemptive callousness about sex and relationships. “I want what I want and to hell with you.”
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1) What I Want Sexually is Wrong (In One Way or Another)
Men carry the deep seated fear that their sexual needs are, in some way, just not right. Whether it’s something as complex as a fetish, or as simple as frequency, men carry the deep-seated fear that sexual love in relationships isn’t sustainable because what they want and need sexually is too much, is too selfish, is wrong.
This shame about their needs is compounded by a lack of emotional connectivity in their relationships; connectivity that can create a vibrant holding space for sexual exploration and generosity. For many men, this central fear that sexual love doesn’t last, can lead to a preemptive callousness about sex and relationships. “I want what I want and to hell with you.” Sexual expression can become intertwined with anger. This, coupled with underlying shame about their sexual appetites, creates a self-fulfilling fatalism, contributing to the collapse of their relationships, time and time again.
2) I’m Never Going to Earn Enough
Being the financial provider is the central role that many men assign themselves in relationships. Although self-assigned, this role is also encouraged by our culture and sometimes by women. This emphasis on providing money is often taken on by men in lieu of the more challenging task of developing crucial interpersonal capacities like emotional connectivity, empathy, and child-raising skills, (emotional skill sets which can validate men in ways other than financially.)
Initially, being the breadwinner may seem like an easy way out for men. The implication is, “if you bring the money you can take a pass on the messy emotional side of your family relationships.” But this breadwinner mode tempts some men to compound their self induced isolation by leveraging the authority associated with economic control over other family members.
Some other relationship killing parts of this equation? When judged solely on their earning capacities, men can end up being relentlessly tested by a spiral of accelerating consumerism. And, when unemployment or retirement strikes, men have no alternative emotional resources or sources of validation to draw on. Game over.
3) Other Men Will Find Out I’m Weak
Men fear their worries and sadness are a sign of weakness; and that if they are found out, they will be rejected and condemned by their friends, family members and spouses.
Men are taught to hide their fears, collectively creating a cultural myth of male toughness. This culture of toughness is deeply isolating. When men have no way to share their stories of uncertainty, grief or fear, those fears can become overwhelming. The suppression of wider ranges of male emotional expression becomes a source of intense internal stress for men, which in turn is expressed as anger or authoritarianism. Although we don’t allow men to cry, we do allow them to express anger. It is this one-note anger mode of expression that can eventually result in alcoholism, addiction, depression and early death for many men. All in the effort to avoid appearing…human.
Because society does not typically encourage the development of soft skills in men, some must face old age without the emotional connectivity that will cushion the impact of aging.
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4) I’m Getting Old
Men are often judged solely on their economic and physical vitality. Typically, men are not valued for their “feminine” soft skills, like diplomacy or emotional availability. This sets men up for an inevitable decline in value, tied directly to aging. Meanwhile, because society does not typically encourage the development of soft skills in men, some must face old age without the emotional connectivity that will cushion the impact of aging. And that makes aging terrifying.
5) I Don’t Know Who I Am
Often men spend their lives battling an uncertain world in order to provide for their families financially. Preoccupied with this struggle, men resist committing time for self examination or emotional growth. Eventually, men come to fear the person in the mirror looking back at them. After a lifetime of putting up a false front of confidence and authority, many men feel they are barely keeping a lid on their emotions. Absent the parallel journey of growing emotional connection with their families and friends, our fathers, brothers and sons are condemned to live lives of isolated desperation, ultimately unsure of who they are and what they might become.
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Being strong and being confident are important parts of being healthy human beings, but strength and confidence comes from the rich and rewarding relationships we create with the people in our lives, not from the economic or physical power we wield, regardless of our gender. Only a rich network of relationships holds the power and flexibility to carry any of us through life’s challenges.
For men, openly sharing emotions like uncertainty or grief should be a socially acceptable way of being, just as keeping these things private is socially accepted. Some men (and women) will always prefer to keep their own counsel. This is perfectly fine. But no man should be forced to live alone with his fears because it is considered weak to admit them. We need a new cultural baseline for men that says sharing our fears is an act of courage; something to be admired and respected. Because doing so in a safe and supportive community can transform these fears into sources of strength, mutual support and ultimately, love. And that is an option that should be open to all of us, men and women alike.
This article was written in conversation with Dr. Saliha Bava.
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Learn how a generation of men are escaping the Man Box and creating powerful change!
READ MORE BY MARK GREENE:
Why Do We Murder the Beautiful Friendships of Boys?
Why America’s Culture of Shame is Killing Us
The Man Box: Why Men Police and Punish
“Every time you do this, you become less free. A rat in a cage. A dog on a chain. A prisoner.”
What Are You Doing When You Call A Man A Good Provider?
Man Box: The Link Between Emotional Suppression and Male Violence
And Then I See Him Laughing—A Father’s Message for the New Year
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Remaking Manhood is a collection of Mark Greene’s most powerful articles on American culture, relationships, family and parenting. It is a timely and balanced look at the issues at the heart of the modern masculinity movement. Mark’s articles on masculinity and manhood have received over 100,000 FB shares and 10 million page views.
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The Good Men Project is an unprecedented space for hosting conversations about what it is to be a good man. We hope you will explore the wide ranging dialogues here. The voices of both men and women are crucial to the success of these conversations. Join us, and together, we’ll create the dialogues that will make positive changes happen for us all.
Below are a few more articles from our community that continue the conversation in different ways.
Five Important Things Women Don’t Know About Men by Noah Brand
Babies and the Rebirth of Men by Mark Greene
Why I Don’t Want to Talk About Race by Steve Locke
Why Do We Demonize Men Who Are Honest About Their Sexual Needs by Clarisse Thorne
The Conversation About Dads Just Keeps Getting Bigger: A Response to the New York Times on Dad 2.0 by Lisa Hickey
This is beautiful. Congratulations, great article!
Most of what I know and have learned about gendered behavior is that hetero men and women define each other.There are many concrete examples of this.One need look no further than the human brain for evidence.The male and female brain were developed in relationship to each other.Moreover.it is mostly the values of mainstream Caucasian men and women that have defined what men and women are supposed to be in the western world. Whites assume that how they view the world is absolutely correct. White women decided that they did not like the definition imposed upon them by white men,so they… Read more »
Loved the article and the message you are trying to get across. It’s not about gender in the end but this is a men’s website that deals with men’s issues so making it about gender is important. My hope is that eventually men won’t be so afraid to show their emotions and share their vulnerability with someone the trust and love. Thanks for putting this out there.
Why in the world would one want to focus on the negatives in their lives? Any sports psychologist worth his salt would tell you that the unconscious mind manifests in reality what we spend mental and emotional energy on – it’s amoral that way. It just grows what’s planted – regardless of what’s planted. Instead – men should focus on, spend mental and emotional energy on – the positives of their lives, what they aspire to, the achievements elemental to their self esteem, etc. In the war of the inner demons of Men, it’s critical to realize that those inner… Read more »
ProfV,
One of the biggest challenges we face as men is evident in your comment. Men are not encouraged to explore or even admit to their pain. My journey has been to acknowledge and then move past the emotional challenges of my life as a man in America. Although I heartily agree that we all need to focus on and grow the positives in our lives, to suggest that focusing on negatives has no value is just more “toughing it out” talk; textbook performance of American masculinity.
Bravo. I am so glad I found a site that explores men in an honest way to encourage growth on both sides of the aisle. I think the biggest fears on this list are 1 and 2 in that order. When men can let go of the struggle and the “facade” a new world opens to them…..then again, that applies to women as well!
This article shows me how different American men must be from Scandinavian men, in general.
@Iben
I agree….
Hi Mark, you want to feel terror? Say to a woman someday you are going to be a soldier and kill people who you no nothing about. She would look at you very strangely. Or you will play a sport where you are going hit someone as hard as you can and try to hurt them, while other folks watch. Or if you try to put your arms around your best friend in public, you might killed, and don’t even think about holdings! Men don’t feel the slightest bit of terror. How could we, we have thoroughly trained not to.… Read more »
I agree with your general conclusion that human beings, and men in particular, must confront their fears & share with those that are close to them. However, the examples given appear to be outdated caricatures & not representative of the majority of modern men. Honestly, I think the biggest” fear” of modern men equates to narcissism: the fear that they do not get affirmation for doing routine tasks (I.e., raising their kids, being faithful to their spouse, etc.) Furthermore, openly sharing emotions would be much easier if men werenot judged when their feelings did no fi neatly into some PC… Read more »
I tried to be clear, indicating that a lot of men don’t hide their emotions and that this is just a sampling of fears, not the five fears. However, this stuff rings true to me. And I count.
Dear Gary, Aging is a wide ranging issue. It can be about end of life issues, or it can be about mid-life challenges created when younger men begin to pose a threat to our employment security. When women stop looking. When we can’t find our damned reading glasses. So the fears I speak of can be wide ranging. What I am most definitely not saying is that men as they age need to “replace physical vitality with emotional sensitivity” in order to “maintain value.” What I am saying is that emotional connectivity gives us rich and varied ways to manage… Read more »
It is rubbish to conclude that economic & physical vitality must be replaced by emotional sensitivity to maintain an older man’s value! From my experience I have found that the need for economic vitality loses its importance as we age and we become less focused on material needs. We get by with less and are still as happy (or even more so). As for physical vitality goes, older men can & should maintain their physical condition for as long as they can into their old age. I am 67 and have never been fitter, working out at gym 3 days… Read more »
I am this man. Spot-On on all five counts. I agree it is courageous for man to be self-aware and admit his fears. But your conclusion takes it too far. Way too far. The real question is why is it socially acceptable to convey these fears by expressing “weaker” emotions, but yet not socially acceptable to express them via manly emotions. John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” What’s wrong with that brand of courage? I think that type of “false confidence” should be admired. Your are correct that men have these five fears.… Read more »
Hey Beau,
If I’m not being clear, let me attempt to be so here. I am not excluding any of the culturally approved approaches to living that men might choose to take. I am arguing to add some more approaches that have thus far been stigmatized as weak or unmanly.
I think if I were generalizing about men’s emotions I would say that men are less likely to politicize their emotions and are less negotiable about their emotions. I think the characterization of “soft skills” as being undeveloped can easily be seen as unreceived and under appreciated. To be honest I see more soft skills generally in young males than I do in young females. Which leads me to consider this perspective to be somewhat dated or directed at old men like me. I would also say that when it comes to emotional growth, people around me have had a… Read more »
Keith, I suspect that soft skills are underrepresented across the board in the young because our institutuions tend to teach math not empathy, and you’re right about the article being directed at older men. That is men who are old enough to have made the kinds of deals we make in longer term relationships or marriages. Mid-30’s or so at least. But the men who hide their emotions are taught to do so as children and that is still happening today. Those kids who are taught to examine and share their emotions are fortunate in that they have an additional… Read more »
Mark “the men who hide their emotions are taught to do so as children and that is still happening today.” You used the word “hide” I’m going to present a different perspective “imposed silence” for your consideration. T The belief that you should never hit a girl obliterates the personal experience that motivates it. The motivating emotion is silenced and the evidence of emotional pain is removed. A unique moment of masculinity is imposed removing the experience of maleness. We may better teach our sons to never hit a girl………. after she apologizes. The fact is that childhood is the… Read more »
I completely agree with 1, 2 & 5
I simply don’t recognize these men you are describing. At all. My ex-boss weeping because the farmer next door shot his dog for trespassing. My son’s pride and exhaustion after a 14 hour day digging fence posts in clay, visible in the way he wiped the sweat from his head. My nephew’s joy at having his beef wellington turn out perfectly for a dinner party of 40,visible in his grin as he surveyed the pin drop silence, and closed eyes around the room. My brother’s sorrow and grief as he contemplates his lost relationship, and the profound serenity as he… Read more »
Dear Rezam, You say you do not recognize the men described in my article. If so, you are a fortunate person. But I assure you that if you start your car and drive to where I was raised you would meet them. It is not due to some bias I have toward listening to emotions in a vocabulary that I “recognize from talking to women” that causes me not to hear some rich vein of emotional communication in those men. The simple fact is, they are not speaking emotionally. And they are certainly not communicating in ways that reveal their… Read more »
“I simply don’t recognize these men you are describing. At all.” as in I. “the micro-culture you inhabit is rife with distrust” as in your community of men may differ – you assert that is so… OK… You use the verbs listening, speaking. In my experience, much of men’s emotional expression is NON_VERBAL. To highly verbal people, accustomed to verbal expression of emotion, it often seems that there is no emotional expression coming from men. That is what I was expressing. I am surprised that someone who is an animator and illustrator might not have understood that. Reveal their hidden… Read more »
Rezam,
Let me just say this. Non-verbal is fine and real and valid. But it’s not the be-all end all of communication. Non-verbal wouldn’t get you through an AA meeting. Non-verbal wouldn’t get you through marriage counseling. What I am suggesting is that men hide their deeper fears. It’s not a complicated idea. You clearly don’t agree with what I am saying and I think you’ve made your position clear. I’m fine with that. But I assure you I am not painting men as human automatons or anything else.
I did not say it was the be-all and end-all. I said they expressed emotion non-verbally, continually, and with an astoundingly broad range. Those non-verbal interactions built trust.
Once trust was there, they did communicate verbally – their vocabulary was not as great as some, but they did express verbally.
Frankly, an AA meeting and marriage counseling are rather specific environments, would you not agree.
I don’t think we have anything further to achieve Mark. Perhaps our experiences are just too divergent.
Agreed. But thanks for commenting. You’ve given me some things to consider.
Mark and Rezam – I can’t speak from a man’s perspective, because I’ve never a walked a mile in a man’s shoes, but I have walked a mile with men. In my experience, I noticed men express emotions quite differently than women and our natures complementary…generally speaking. I usually get an argument from women, but I know there’s a general difference. I can attest to the non-verbal quality, until trust is built. Just to share a one unique experience from a woman’s view, I was in the military and spent time in combat with thousands of men and very few… Read more »
Rezam, I’m fascinated by the notion that you’re pushing your own version of “what men are like” as evidence that Mark’s view is flawed. Perhaps you’re lacking either the courage, the honesty, the intelligence, or the sensitivity to open yourself up to what Mark is proposing, but the view of men’s experience he writes about is entirely accurate and reality-based. If yours is different, that doesn’t make him wrong, it makes you very lucky. Perhaps instead of attempting to attack, condescend to, and deconstruct his version, you should write your own essay on men’s experiences and submit it to the… Read more »
Michael, I clearly and unmistakeably prefaced my comments as being MY EXPERIENCES. His may easily be true for the men he has known. Given that he is speaking in very broad generalizations, and has written in collaboration with Dr. Bava, I think it is reasonable to assume that this is not to be applied to JUST the men he has known. “you’re lacking either the courage, the honesty, the intelligence, or the sensitivity to open yourself up” Is this your normal style of discussion? I fully grasp what Mark is proposing. I simply disagree with his premise, based on my… Read more »
Rezam, two clarifications that I can not leave unspoken: You say, “Does one start such an interaction in any of those settings, by adopting the position that the man has no internal emotional life, apart from fear and anger? Is this valid to you? Men are emotional deaf mutes?” I am not saying that men are emotional deaf mutes. I have never said that. I would never say that. What I am saying is that we live in a culture in which men are taught to HIDE their internal emotional lives. And that they are punished when the reveal supposedly… Read more »
Mark, Wow, I really enjoyed this article. These themes resonate with man’s inner-caveman. Isolate these concepts/fears and they have an instinctual male-quality to them, generally speaking. Those qualities tend to complement instinctual female-qualities. Even #2, the male-fear of providing tends to correspond to the female-fear of nesting today. Men fear not being able to provide enough today, women fear becoming a burden or a mouth to feed, if you will. Although, you mention men being emotionally disconnected today, that part is disturbing to me as a woman. It’s our responsibility to complement the opposite sex and try to meet each… Read more »
Common enough issues to be worth a good look. It seems to be pretty common for men to seem more emotionally withdrawn and more cautious about expressing their feelings than women. I don’t think that’s just an empty stereotype. But, part of the problem is how our society talks about talking about feelings. In some ways, we keep making it a really big deal when a man openly talks about his feelings, when we should not make such a huge production out of it. Telling men over and over again that expressing your feelings makes you “vulnerable” or “opens you… Read more »
Impressive. Nice write up.
At first glance, I tend to agree.
Yes, agree, while at the same time, being EVER so thankful to not be male.
Well written article, but it’s a bit broad brush and one dimensional. It seems to be playing to the male stereotypes that are floating around and, with a bit more depth, could have been sensational. Well done though.
Thanks Len. I’ve revised the article quite a bit, if you make it back by, let me know what you think.
This should just be called “5 things that terrify people.” I don’t get why this article is gendered. Sometimes I think that if we all just gendered less stuff we would see we have a lot more in common than we think,
Katherine, it’s probably gendered because this is a men’s website, ostensibly geared at discussing specific issues facing men in society today.
On one level I do agree with you, Katherine. But I’m also intent upon communicating with men, who, I think deal with emotions in very different ways than women do. This is because of how men are raised and conditioned regarding what is acceptable for them to express. I am writing not to say that these fears are only men’s fears. I’m am speaking to men about them. My goal is to encourage broad levels of communication between men and women.
I really don’t find my sisters terrified they will never earn enough money, or defending themselves against people manipulating their weakness in the same way. We were raised the same, and they are in higher-pressure fields where they out-earn me and provide a larger part of their family’s money, but they can think their way around these issues better. So this is gendered because it is gendered. Yes, women have these issues too, but I am also a domesitc violence victim, and I find people who insist we cover that in a gender neutral manner to be bizarre. This response… Read more »
And they *definitely* do not fear that they are evil sex-addicted monsters. Women with that particular fear are so few I think I have met maybe two in my entire life. Whereas most men either live this way all their lives, or go through it as a phase.